MISS ZELLA BIRCH LOSES BRAVE FIGHT-------- obituary
Miss Zella Birch passes away this (Thursday) evening at 5 o’clock at the General Hospital at Idaho Falls; after a surgical operation performed Monday, June 15, for the relief of stomach trouble and other complications. Deceased has been ailing for about a year and during the last three months has been constantly under a physician’s care, although keeping up her work in the millinery store most of the time. After an X-ray test had shown that her one chance to be cured was an operation, she calmly decided to submit to it and seemed to rally nicely at first. On the following Wednesday morning complications arose that made a second operation necessary. Everything that human aid could suggest was done, but the young lady gradually grew weaker until the end came. Miss Zella Birch was born at North Wilford 28 years ago and has lived in Fremont County ever since and for the past three years was the partner of Mrs. Daily in The Hat Shop. She is survived by her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Dave Birch and the following sisters and brothers: Mrs. Lois Bean of Teton; Mrs. Ruby Hall of Colton, California; Miss Fern Birch of Boise and Misses Millie and Eva Birch of St. Anthony. Her parents and two sisters and Mrs. Daily and Mrs. W. E. Stevens of this city were with her when the end came. Funeral arrangements have not been completed but will probably be Monday afternoon at the --------
Funeral services were held for Miss Zella Birch at the Tabernacle Monday afternoon under the direction of Bishop White of the Second Ward of the L.D.S. Church of which Miss Birch was a faithful member. The auditorium was packed with friends and relatives wishing to participate in the services in respect to this young lady. Appropriate music was rendered by the Second Ward choir, with Mrs. Belle George Wood directing. Bishop W.W. Spiers of this city and Judge Donaldson of Teton spoke in glowing terms of the exemplary life of Miss Birch as a church member and as a citizen and business woman. The casket was banked with beautiful floral offerings --- a silent tribute to the memory of one, beloved by all. Burial was at Wilford Cemetery.
Fern Birch was born 15 March 1897 at her Garn grandparents’ home in Coalville, Utah.
As she grew, Fern became her father’s “pet”, according to Lois, her sister. She was a tomboy and enjoyed working with him on the farm. He said she looked like his mother.
Fern went through the Wilford and St. Anthony schools and later graduated from a business school in Salt Lake City, Utah. After returning to St. Anthony she was employed by a group of businessmen, one of whom was a realtor and Republican state legislator, Charles C. Moore. As Mr. Moore’s political star rose, so did Fern’s career.
Charles Moore was elected governor of Idaho in 1922 and asked Fern, then 25, to go with him to Boise to serve as one of his secretaries there. After his two terms in office, Fern also served as a secretary for his successor, Governor H. C. Baldridge.
Fern purchased a home in Boise, and though she complained about its heat inefficiency each winter, she delighted in her flowers each summer.
After her service in the governor’s office, Fern obtained a job in the Veterans Administration in Boise, where she worked for 36 years. She handled considerable amounts of money for the VA office at a time when money was hand carried to and from banks in cloth bags. For that reason she was bonded against accident or theft. Fern was 70 when she retired.
Fern was instrumental in funding the advanced educations of her sisters, Lois and Eva and her niece, Thelma Hall. She loaned them tuition money, which they each repaid.
She worried about her parents in their old age, spent as much time with them when she could, and frequently sent cards and gifts.
Fern never married. When young, she fell in love with Joseph Seeley, who was called on a mission. They arranged to meet in Salt Lake City, Utah, when he returned, to marry in the temple there, but he was accidentally asphyxiated by a gas water heater in the mission home just before he was to board the train for home. So much to her shock and sorrow, Fern attended his funeral instead of their wedding. She never met anyone else to take his place.
Fern spent her final years in a nursing home in Idaho Falls with dementia. She was 95 when she died 3 May 1992 and was buried in the Wilford Cemetery.
(From the book: “Remembering David and Nancy And Their Family” by Jesse Dean Birch & Twila Davis Bird, p.352.)
Born at the turn of the century, (b. 25 August 1899) Ernest grew up sandwiched between three older sister and three younger sisters. He was half grown before his two brothers came along and was married before they assumed much responsibility on the farm. Because of his gender and position in the family, his father, David, relied heavily on him to help with farm work.
Perhaps because of his heavy load, Ernest took more license with his personal freedom, whenever he had it, than did his siblings. His teenage sprees with his dad’s new car are legendary.
Ernest met Isolene Shumway at a dance and married her in a civil ceremony two years later, on 29 December 1921. They were sealed in the Logan Temple on 10 November 1926.
After their marriage they lived in St. Anthony, while Ernest worked on his father’s farm for a year. They spent their second year in Pocatello, where Ernest worked as a mechanic on the railroad. While in Pocatello, their first son was born. Ernest Neal lived less than three weeks before passing away with pneumonia.
In the fall of 1923 the Birches moved back to St. Anthony to resume farming on land near David’s farm. Their 4-room home had no modern conveniences. While here three children were born: Gerald in 1924, Colleen in 1927, and Dean in 1930. In 1937 they moved a mile west to another farm, this one with the luxury of electricity.
After the death of Ernest’s brother, Jess, in 1943 and a brief transition period with a hired farm manager, David Birch asked Ernest if he would like to take over the family farm. Terms were agreed on and Ernest and Isolene moved into his childhood home in June 1944. They lived there for the rest of their lives.
Isolene suffered with chronic depression for most of her life; her welfare was a great concern for her family.
Millie Birch Bean, 73, route 1, Shelley, a prominent Republican Party committeewoman, died at her home Thursday morning, following a prolonged illness (brain cancer).
A member of the Republican Party, she served as a committeewoman for many years and was a member of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers.
She served in several stake positions in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including Relief Society, Primary inservice, Sunday School teacher and had filled a mission to the Western States Mission with her husband, Lloyd. For 17-18 years she and Lloyd worked at the Idaho Falls L.D.S. Temple.
Millie was born April 16, 1904 at Wilford, Fremont County, Idaho to David Birch and Nancy Eldredge Garn Birch. She grew up in Wilford and St. Anthony areas, attending schools at St. Anthony.
Following high school graduation, she worked in a St. Anthony store and later became a legal secretary for George Lowe and Judge Jackson there.
She was married to Lloyd Bean at the Salt Lake City L.D.S. Temple on September 12, 1923. During their first year of marriage the couple lived at Pocatello, Idaho and then returned to St. Anthony for a year. They farmed at Squirrel, St. Anthony, Milo and settled in the Jameston-Shelley area, where they lived for the past 31 years.
Millie is survived by her husband, Lloyd, of Shelley; six daughters: Mrs. Clyde (Wanda) Miller, Mrs. Paul (Karen) Searle, both of Shelley, Mrs. Keith (Arlene) Meservy of Provo, Utah, Mrs. William (Karma) Cox of Idaho Falls, Mrs. George (Ruth) Hansen of Monteview, and Mrs. F.A. (Linda) Butler of Underwood, Washington; two sons: Ralph D. Bean and Paul L. Bean, both of Monteview; four sisters: Fern Birch of Boise, Idaho, Ruby Hall of Logan, Utah, Eva Penfold of Hagerman, Idaho and Lois Bean of Twin Falls, Idaho; a brother: Reed Birch of Idaho Falls; 47 grandchildren and 23 great-grandchildren.
Services will be under the arrangement of Nalder Funeral Home at Shelley.
Birth, life, and death were all centered in one place for Jesse Birch --- the family farm in Wilford, Idaho. He was born 23 April 1909 in Wilford, Fremont Idaho. He grew up there and attended school in St. Anthony by commuting the two miles on horseback. After graduating from the eighth grade, he worked full time on his father’s farm.
When Jess married Myrdean Clark in the Logan Temple, his parents moved permanently into their home in St. Anthony and left the farm home for the newlyweds. Jess and his father then worked the farm together. This arrangement continued for 7 ½ years until Jess’s untimely death on 23 June 1943, when he died of pneumonia after being ill for only ten days. He died in the same room he had been born in 34 years earlier.
Compiled by Saundra Cox with information about Jesse Birch quoted from the book: “Remembering David and Nancy And Their Family” by Jesse Dean Birch & Twila Davis Bird, p. 357.
Thomas Reed Birch
Reed Birch was the youngest of David and Nancy Birch’s nine children and was born 2 October 1912 in St. Anthony, Fremont, Idaho. By the time he was born, his oldest sisters were gone, either married or working. Reed grew up with his brother, Jesse, three years older than himself. The two worked and played together, often pulling pranks and getting into minor trouble.
He learned early to do farm chores and was raised to work hard, be thrifty, and never shirk from responsibility.
As older teenagers, Reed and Jess chased around with the same group of friends and often dated together. Their steady girlfriends, Eileen Clinkscales and Myrdean Clark, were good friends.
Reed and Eileen were married in the Logan Temple in 1934. They moved onto Seth and Lois’ (sister & brother-in-law) Drummond dry farm, after the Beans vacated it, and lived there for 3 ½ years. They then farmed briefly in Wilford before purchasing a farm in Twin Groves, where they lived for the next 15 years.
In 1962, the Birches moved to Ammon, Idaho, just east of Idaho Falls, where Eileen had obtained a teaching position. Reed ran a laundromat and served as the building custodian for the Ammon LDS 3rd Ward chapel.
Eileen died in 1984. Reed married Louise Monk Reynolds three years later in the Idaho Falls Temple.
When his older sister, Fern, developed dementia, and needed full time care, Reed assumed responsibility for her and had her moved to a care center near his home.
Reed was known for his punctuality, his gentleness, his respect for women, and his service.
He was 90 at the time of his death on 14 May 2003 in Idaho Falls, Idaho.
Compiled by Saundra Cox with information about Reed Birch quoted from the book: “Remembering David and Nancy And Their Family” by Jesse Dean Birch & Twila Davis Bird, p. 358.
(Just a short note from Saundra – Uncle Reed was a truly kind gentle man. As a teenager I worked for him at his laundromat in Ammon, Idaho. He would have me come and clean the floor and appliances there. If people needed money change they had to go down to the grocery store north of the laundromat which was Saving Center and was managed by Boyd Wilde, my sister, Leesa’s father-in-law.